Did you read that headline and think this was going to be a post about collecting toys? Because this is totally going to be a post about collecting toys. Sorry if my headline was a little vague, but I wanted something that perfectly captured my feelings about today’s topic. I don’t know what has gotten into me lately, but I’ve been on this kick about how much things have changed in my lifetime. Maybe it’s because my 40th birthday is approaching and I don’t have much time left. One foot in the grave and all. Maybe it’s because I’m not so sure that I like where the world is headed with the advent of all this new technology and whatnot. Regardless, I was standing in Walmart a few weeks ago wondering if kids today will ever know that feeling of finding a toy they had been looking for for a long time – whether it was an action figure on the back of the card or some new game they saw in a commercial watching Nicktoons.
It’s bad enough that toy stores seem to be little more than a relic of the past these days anyway. There’s no more (real) Toys R Us or KB Toys locations around town and there hasn’t been in some time. You’re left at the mercy of the toy sections of Walmart and Target. My wife and I were looking for a gift for a birthday party, and as we walked up each aisle unsuccessfully, I started to think, “eh, we can just go home and order something online.”
That’s when it hit me. Man, they make it too easy to just give up these days. Online shopping has saved my ass plenty of times. I’m not against that – don’t get me wrong. But, I remember being a kid in the 90s and searching for that one action figure that had escaped my grasp. There were times when I’d get home from school and my mom would be waiting for me when I got off the bus. I’d learn that she had called KB Toys and they had the Rikishi action figure I’d been looking for for weeks. I remember flipping over the package on my new Dr. Death action figure, seeing that they made an X-Pac in the same series, and thinking “I have to have it!” It was a hunt, and I looked for that X-Pac for long enough to think I wasn’t ever going to find it before I ultimately did. We walked into the Toys R Us in Hickory Hollow and by chance, they happened to be restocking the wrestling section. I looked through row after row after row and finally, there he was – X-Pac. I felt triumphant that day – it was like winning a baseball game.
Nowadays, if you don’t find it in the stores, you can just fire up Amazon, Google, or eBay, and it’ll be at your doorstep tomorrow. What kind of character does that build? Instant gratification *scoffs*. I like that for some things, but it does make me a bit sad to think about those triumphant moments not materializing for today’s youth. They felt like great adventures when I was a kid….like we were treasure hunters or something. I don’t know if you guys ever felt that way about some toy from when you were a kid, but it’s funny the things we think of the older we get. I miss that. I hope the thrill of that hunt is still alive out there somewhere.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
Elsewhere on the SoBros Network: Check out Stacking The Inbox for premium coverage of the Tennessee Titans and NFL Draft. Subscribe to Nashville Movie Dispatch for all of our movie content. We get weird on Phone It In, the history podcast that explores legendary tales, important historical figures, and events.
